Dear editor:

Back in in 2019, the Ford government began tampering with funding for autism in Ontario. The effect of this “restructuring” was to make government funding close to negligible for those most affected by autism. As of March 2026, there were 67,500 children across the province waiting to access funding for core clinical services through the Ontario Autism Program.

What does this have to do with provincial funding for flood victims in Niagara? Well, probably quite a lot. It relates to how Ontario distributes public funding.

The first priority appears to be to those who have funded the Doug Ford party during the last election and other politically useful occasions. The second priority includes the funding for the next election. (Attack ads don’t come cheap.) The third priority is to prime the pump both for government revenues and corporate revenues. Fortunately, public funds can be used to highlight a lot of things somehow related to the Ford government.

How are these decisions made? Well, first of all, there is the question of how much money autism associations have contributed to the Ford party. Secondly, how likely is it that those personally concerned with autism funding will impact the outcome of the next election? Thirdly, if we contribute money to autism, what exactly are we priming the pump for, and what will we reap in terms of dollars and cents?

The result is that, in just about every category, autism falls short of being a good investment for the province. So, let’s keep the funding at the usual starvation level.

Well, how does this apply to Niagara flood relief? Let’s do a quick check.

In the past, Niagara has not been a leading supporter of the Ford party in terms of the popular vote. On the other hand, some of Niagara’s mayors are (or at least were) rabid supporters of Ford and his policies. Nonetheless, it seems likely that most of these mayors will continue on, as leading players in Niagara, even without flood relief. And so, what to do?

First, in spite of initial coverage in the Toronto media, the flood issue has long since vanished from sight in the GTA. Secondly, private insurance has covered a fair bit of the flood damage in Niagara, so that there are now fewer voices calling for help. Thirdly, the Ford party continues to look fairly good in the polls; so buying votes in Niagara is not a priority. (This might possibly be reconsidered, if the Ford party begins to slip rather badly.)

Generally speaking, Ford party money (that is, public funds) could be spent more beneficially elsewhere, although not in the area of autism.

Right now, the smart money leans towards the idea that, where private insurance falls short, homeowners and other flood victims are out of luck. As Premier Ford might say: “I got my photo-ops, and now I don’t owe ya nothin.”

It would take a considerable investment in the Doug Ford hope chest to change the dynamics of this situation.

Kevin McCabe
St. Catharines